Utica Schools rocket club to compete in national event

For half a dozen Shelby Junior High School students and their adult advisers, it is rocket science.

The Shelby Rocket Club is among 100 teams from 29 states headed to Virginia next month to compete in the Team America Rocket Challenge, which bills itself as the “world’s largest student rocket contest.”

“So far, so good,” said Ryann Easterbrook, a ninth-grader and multiple-year member of the club. “We’ve been working for a really long time. It’s very rewarding that we get to go to Virginia now.”

The event is sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association as a means to encourage students to advance their education and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. This year’s competition drew 725 initial entrants. The field was narrowed to the top 100 teams, who will travel to Virginia for the May 11 competition.

“This is my first time going to the nationals,” said Colton Gamrat. “Last year, we didn’t make it that far.”

Team members who will travel to Virginia include: Dana Apfel, Easterbrook, Gamrat, Matthew Jelcin, Tyler Newton and Connor Schury. The teams is coached by Andy Davis, Shelby Junior High science teacher, and Art Kahler.

Competition rules require students to build and launch a rocket according to strict parameters. Among the rules, the rocket must:

• Reach an altitude of 750 feet;

• Stay aloft for 48 to 50 seconds;

• Return to Earth via a 15-inch diameter parachute;

• Carry a payload of one raw egg placed horizontally in the nose of the rocket.

Recovering a scrambled egg is not an option.

Shelby students began to design their rocket last September, built it in October and performed the first of several test launches in December.

“Right now, they’re tweaking the rocket,” said Davis. “… The kids are learning a lot about trial and error. They have to launch, and then they have to try to figure out what went wrong and why it went wrong.

“Then they have to make adjustments, launch again and make more adjustments.”

Easterbrook conceded the process can be frustrating.

“Sometimes we don’t know what went wrong,” she said. “So you have to keep trying.”

The 100 teams that descend on Virginia will compete for more than bragging rights. More than $60,000 in scholarships is up for grabs and the winner earns a trip to Paris to compete in international competition.

“It would be really nice to win, but there is a large amount of luck involved,” Easterbrook said. “Although we’ve put all this work into it, you can’t guarantee first place or anything. It all depends on nature and the environment at the time.

“(But) it’s still going to be a lot of fun to go there.”

A team from the Macomb Mathematics Science Technology Center in Warren Consolidated Schools also will compete.